Knowing Students More Deeply
‘No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.’
–Dr. James Comer
It is report writing season in schools across the country and thousands of wonderful teachers out there are probably a little overwhelmed as they juggle the new world of online learning coupled with writing reports, editing their colleagues’ reports and still doing a super job of teaching students online or face- to-face each day among a mountain of other competing forces. Interestingly, knowing what to write about each student that accurately reflects their learning journey is where a bulk of this stress comes from.
Wearing both the parent hat and teacher hat, I have been reading my kids’ reports now for a number of years and they have varied from literary masterpieces to pages of curriculum jargon that parents stopped reading years ago. I have to admit my own difficulty dissecting and interpreting what is written. Unfortunately, I don’t have the solution to perfect reports. However, having spent many hours reading them and fielding feedback from parents, some of it good and some of it bad, I think I may have uncovered something that will help.
It will not shock you to know that parents love reading reports that tell a story about the progress of their child, what they need to do to progress further, have a personal touch and says to them, “This teacher knows my child!” Reports should not be a surprise to parents. If a student is struggling with writing, reading or socialising, parents should not be reading about it for the first time in a report. Take the time to call parents before reports arrive to express concerns or even communicate a great result. Get on the front foot and keep parents in the loop. Most parents love this type of approach and it supports the report writing process.
There is one caveat to this piece of advice, and it is ‘know thy child.’ Now, there are a plethora of ways to do this but one that I have seen work incredibly well is the ‘Five Finger Challenge.’ It involves teachers across the school endeavouring to know five important things (hobbies, family structure, favourite subject, someone they admire, etc) about as many students as possible at their school. The starting point being their own class. This type of relationship building activity helps with reports, but that is not where the real power of it lies. The real power lies in the strong connection it creates across the school between teachers and students. It says to students that my teachers are interested in me and this has an incredible power to motivate and inspire powerful learning in a connected community.
At a time when students are disconnecting from adults via social media platforms and powerful gaming movements like the much publicised game, ‘Fortnight,’ how can we reconnect with students and even our own children? How might you foster stronger relationships with your students? How can you use this knowledge to craft reports that tell the real learning story and engage parents at home to support what happens in the classroom?
